New Olympus Saga (Book 1): Armageddon Girl

by C. J. Carella

  So many questions, so little time. Maybe a bit of history first? Christine wasn’t a big history buff; she’d taken some basic courses, and aced them because acing courses was what she did, and with an eidetic memory remembering dates and places wasn’t a big deal to her. Her problem with history was that it wasn’t neat, not like mathematics. The dates and events were set in stone, but the causes and effects were debatable at best, and historians disagreed about them as badly as fanboys at a Comic Con. Still, she knew the basics, so she might as well start with World War II and at least catch the Cliff Notes. One of her boyfriends (the domineering d-bag who enjoyed making her feel like shit) had been a history major who specialized in that conflict, so she’d done a bit of extra reading on it in a pathetic attempt to get his approval.

  So let’s see. 1939. Invasion of Poland, check. In addition to tanks and artillery, the Nazis led their attack with the Teutonic Knights, which included a flying guy who could throw lightning bolts, another that could punch out a tank, and assorted other odds and ends, emphasis on the odd. Apparently some of the Knights had been normal guys in costumes who were used for propaganda purposes. You just couldn’t trust Nazis in any universe.

  Moving on. Phony War, check, then the Nazis attack France. Battles, Nazis kicking butt and taking names, mostly names like Pierre and Henri. Dunkirk evacuation after the French and Brits get zerged and pwned. British Neo called Meteor fights the Teutonic Knights over Dunkirk and helps protect the evacuation of the retreating Brits. Yadda yadda, the US stays neutral, yadda. Invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, same as in Earth Prime. Later that year, Pearl Harbor, ditto, except that the Kami Warriors, Japanese superheroes, hit Pearl alongside the fighters and bombers and inflict even more damage.

  1942. Freedom Legion is founded and recruits a bunch of US superheroes and mystery men (and women, you sexist pigs). More battles. Slaughter Raid on Japan; that one replaced the Doolittle Raid from Earth Prime. It wasn’t a slaughter, it was led by a guy by the name Doc Slaughter. Battle of Midway, check. Neos fought on both sides. One of them, a guy called Janus, sank the battleship Yamato and the carrier Amagi single-handedly and killed Admiral Yamamoto. That had to hurt. Guadalcanal, check, but the Japanese never come back. Back to Europe. Stalingrad, check. Stalin and most of the Soviet high command get killed. WTF? Okay, let’s get some details.

  The Russians had their own group of super-peeps, called the Heroes of the Revolution (predictable much?). Two of them, Medved (the Bear) and the Hunter, were BFFs. Their bromance ended tragically when the Hunter was executed for defeatism during Stalingrad. Big oops. Bear guy runs all the way to Moscow from Stalingrad, storms the Kremlin, crushes Stalin like a grape and does the same to just about every Soviet leader in Moscow until an armored division and the other Heroes of the Revolution chase him away. Moscow gets pretty battered in the process. The Germans still get reamed at Stalingrad, though.

  1943. Very few checks, things are pretty damn different. The Germans and Soviets keep hammering on each other but then both sides start having major problems in the Ukraine. Some guy called the Iron Tsar is arming partisans with effing ray guns and building robots and death machines and other fun stuff, and using them on both sides in the name of an independent Ukraine. He also encourages most of the Heroes of the Revolution to defect and raises his own army of Neos, including a scary lady going by the name Baba Yaga who allegedly massacres entire Nazi and Soviet armored divisions by her lonesome. The Soviets just weren’t very good at keeping their superheroes happy, apparently.

  In the Pacific, the Japanese are getting beaten much faster than in Earth Prime’s history. Their Kami Warriors get killed pretty quickly, and Janus, who also happens to be the first black superhero, sinks entire fleets and destroys island garrisons without any help. Elsewhere in Asia, another super-guy, the Dragon Emperor, takes over Mongolia and invades China, killing Japanese, Communist and Nationalist Chinese and anybody else who gets in his way.

  1944. D-Day at Normandy, check, but spearheaded by the Freedom Legion. Ultimate the Invincible Man takes out most of the Teutonic Knights. The article insists D-Day could not have gone off without the Legion, which is kinda funny, except on Earth Alpha the Soviets are not doing too well and the Nazis have a lot more troops to defend in the Western Front, so maybe it’s not that funny after all. The Iron Tsar and his super-weapon-wielding army take over the Ukraine and chunks of Belarus, Poland, Russia and everywhere unlucky enough to have a border with it. The Ukrainians use some flying saucer-like ships to bomb the crap out of Moscow and assorted other places. The Soviets never get into Eastern Europe except parts of Poland; they are too busy fighting the Iron Tsar.

  Late the same year, Hitler gets assassinated by a group of disgruntled officers and the Mind, one of the last Teutonic Knights. It’s a tough world for dictators without superhuman powers. The Germans try to negotiate peace, but the Allies are in no mood and the Germans finally surrender unconditionally when Patton and the Legion are about to reach Berlin by April of 1945. The US and Great Britain finish off the Nazis by themselves, mainly thanks to the Freedom Legion. VE Day is a little earlier than on Earth Prime.

  A few weeks later in Asia, Janus kills the last of the Kami warriors and has a sit down with Emperor Hirohito, who orders a general surrender. A bunch of military leaders refuse the order, so Janus kills them too, until the rest figure that surrender is the way to go. The US never drops nukes on Japan, although regular bombing had pretty much leveled almost all its cities already.

  The post-war settlement was completely different. The Soviet Union gets very little out of the peace settlement, partly because there isn’t much of a Soviet Union left after the super-Ukrainians are done pasting them and helping several Soviet Republics to revolt and secede, and partly because a Neo by the name Daedalus Smith unmasks a bunch of Soviet spies embedded in the US late in the war, which makes US president Truman none too eager to let the Soviets get anything good.

  The Allies do some skirmishing with the Iron Tsar but are too war-weary to do much about him, and a peace settlement allows the Dominion of the Ukraine to keep most of its territory. The Soviets get kicked out of Poland and are forced to declare Belarus an independent republic, too. There’s no Cold War in this world, since the Soviets remain a mess, never develop nuclear weapons, and end up becoming puppets of Ukraine.

  There are two Chinas, a Republic and an Empire; the Empire holds Mongolia and the more thinly-populated interior of China, and most of the people and the money stay in the Republic. Mao gets killed by a Chinese Neo and with little Soviet support the Chinese Communists never get anywhere and are hunted down by both the Imperials and Nationalists. The Republic of China becomes a major US ally.

  Whew. Christine checked the time; she was beginning to hit the wee hours, and she was getting sleepy. Even Neos needed sleep, or did they? A quick Google search revealed that if they didn’t get enough sleep Neos eventually went insane, so yeah, they needed their beauty rest.

  But there was so much she needed to know! Just a couple more searches…

  Mark found her passed out at her desk the next morning, drooling all over the keyboard. Very embarrassing.

  Face-Off

  New York City, New York, March 14, 2013

  Condor’s vessel emerged from the East River like a monstrous sea creature, scaring the shit out of a ferry full of commuters.

  “We’re going to be on YouTube before breakfast,” I grumbled.

  “I’d better be. I could use the publicity,” Condor replied. “I haven’t flown this baby in over a year, so it’s good to know it can still make an impression.”

  “You have maintained it regularly, right?” Christine asked nervously. She clearly didn’t like flying very much.

  “Of course,” Condor said as the ship rose over the river, shedding water like a duck. The Condor Jet was a big, odd-looking thing with a bird design including a beak on its tip, but it could travel under water and in the air, where it could outperform an F-42 f
ighter. Condor went on in a tour guide voice. “On your left, you can see the Brooklyn Bridge. It looks like we have stopped traffic, but that shouldn’t last long. New Yorkers don’t impress easily.”

  “Is the Condor-plane supposed to be vibrating right now?” Christine said. “Because I can feel it vibrating right now.”

  “The VTOL system does generate a bit of turbulence, unfortunately,” Condor said. “As soon as we get some altitude I’ll fire off the turbines and it’ll be a smooth ride, I promise.”

  “Okay.”

  “I’ve always liked the vibrations myself,” Kestrel commented from the copilot seat, and Christine scowled at her. Well, scowled at Kestrel’s back. It was a pretty cute scowl, I thought.

  I watched the New York skyline as it receded away, and wondered if I would ever see it again. I hoped my friends would be all right without me. Father Alex had agreed to leave town for a few days. My friendship with him was largely a secret, but I didn’t want him to take any chances, not if the Russians and Ukrainians were looking for me. I’d spoken briefly with Cassandra that morning, despite her instructions not to contact her. She’d been expecting my call, of course, and assured me she would be fine and proceeded to admonish me not to call again. I still worried.

  “Fasten your seat belts, ladies and gents,” Condor announced. A few moments later the aircraft started accelerating. The stealth system kicked in, wrapping the aircraft in an energy field that rendered it invisible to radar, cameras and even the old Mark I eyeball. The vibrations stopped and the flight settled into smooth, imperceptible movement. Christine relaxed visibly. “We will arrive in Chicago in one hour and twenty-five minutes. Thank you for flying Condor Airlines.”

  “That’s pretty fast,” Christine commented. “We’re not going to have time to watch an in-flight movie or anything. Too bad, I kinda wanted to catch Oliver Stone’s True Patriot.”

  “Don’t bother,” I said. “It’s full of mistakes, even a few outright lies.”

  “Oh, okay. I got the basics on the Patriot and how he became President after Kennedy before I fell asleep by the computer. So what’s so wrong about the movie?”

  “Not much, except it implies a Neo conspiracy destroyed Kennedy’s presidency during the First Asian War, which led to his losing the election to Ray Stephens. Kennedy was something of an anti-Neo guy – he pushed the Parahuman Registration Act – but it’s kind of a big leap to claim Stephens’ victory was a ‘bloodless coup.’ There are no ‘vast Neo conspiracies.’”

  “Well, not that we know of,” Condor commented. “Of course, if you listen to the wilder conspiracy theories, all Neos are working together to form a planetary government. Blame Daedalus Smith and his stupid ‘New World Order’ speech back in ‘81. He might as well have started spouting off about the Illuminati.”

  “Yikes. I just wanted to watch a movie,” Christine said.

  “Sorry. It’s just that a lot of people hate us, and it pisses me off,” I admitted. “The media has a love-hate relationship with Neos. You get the tabloids treating us like superstars on the one hand, and regular newspapers ready to pounce whenever a Neo screws up or commits a crime on the other.”

  “I can kinda understand people being afraid of Neos,” she replied. “I was on Hyperpedia all night, and there’s some scary stuff out there. You have the Ukraine and like half of China under Neo dictators, you have that guy in Mexico...”

  “El Presidente, yeah,” I agreed. “But he gets elected democratically every time.” Of course, El Presidente had been winning elections for over fifty years.

  “Sure, but he still pretty much gets to do whatever he wants. I found like twenty parahuman dictators all over the world. Africa, South America, that Papa Doc guy and his army of Neos and zombies in Haiti…”

  “The Legion put a stop to that. Now Haiti is a pretty nice place to visit,” I said, and belatedly realized I was defending the Legion. Normally I would piss all over those sanctimonious pricks unless they were on fire.

  “That’s the thing: Neos had to rescue Haiti from other Neos. Muggles – regular people, I mean – don’t stand a chance.”

  “Most Neos do their best not to infringe on the rights of normal humans,” Condor said. “And we do our best to hunt down the ones who think they are above human justice. In fact, when we have more time, young lady, you are going to take my course on Parahuman Ethics. It’s not quite as long and boring as what properly bonded and licensed Neos get, but it covers the basics. Short version: you are not better than anybody else just because you have powers. If anything, you have an obligation to use those powers for the betterment of all.”

  “’With great power comes great responsibility,’” Christine said, clearly quoting something.

  “Exactly,” Condor agreed.

  “A very wise man said that in my world. On the other hand, another wise man said ‘Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.’”

  “We can only hope he was wrong. Because there are a lot of people with great power – over five thousand confirmed Neos – running around. And sure, a lot of people would love to see us gone, but we’re here, they’d better get used to it.” Christine snorted when Condor said that, for no reason I could fathom.

  “She’s got a point, though,” I felt forced to admit. “Most of what we do is clean up messes other Neos made.”

  “But we are cleaning up those messes. That’s my point.”

  “I’m sorry I’m being so negative,” Christine said. “You guys have been great, and from what I read Neos have done incredible things for the world. I guess whenever someone shows me a silver lining, I start looking for a cloud.”

  “Can’t blame you for that,” I said. “This ain’t no utopia. It’s a miracle some dickhead with more power than sense hasn’t blown up the planet. We’ve had Neo-created plagues, tsunamis, earthquakes and giant monsters, and every couple of years it seems some asshole decides to try and take over the world.”

  “Could be worse, I guess,” Christine said. “It could happen every week.”

  “We do what we can, and usually the guys who pull that crap don’t get a chance to do it twice.”

  “Oh. In my world’s comic books, villains usually keep coming back.”

  “Here they get the death penalty, and they typically don’t come back from that.”

  ‘Yikes. Harsh.”

  “Once you catch somebody after he’s killed a couple hundred innocent people, you really don’t want to risk him getting out and doing it again.”

  “Okay, still harsh, but I guess that makes sense.”

  “I’m pretty sure whoever kidnapped you also has some world-changing plan in the works,” I said. “And when I find them, they won't be making any more plans, ever.” I was full of shit, and I knew it even before the last words were out of my mouth. I was a holy terror when it came to beating up local gang bangers or Neos in my own weight class, but I wasn’t going to stop a planetary conspiracy. At best, I’d die trying, and dying while trying is a loser’s way out.

  Christine didn’t say anything for a while. Just as well.

  Hunters and Hunted

  New York City, New York, March 14, 2013

  In retrospect, killing the Mafioso had not been a good idea.

  Archangel sat back on his armchair and listened to the local lackeys’ excuses. His temporary headquarters was an office that belonged to a pimp from Belarus. The Brooklyn location was more convenient than the secret facility in Manhattan, and closer to his underground contacts, contacts like the very pimp whose office he’d appropriated and the other drug-dealers, racketeers and general scum he was forced to work with until they found the girl. Archangel briefly considered killing one of them pour encourager les autres, but resisted the urge. For one, it would make a mess on the carpet. For another, they probably couldn’t be any more afraid of him than they already were. Drive too much terror into a man's heart and he became unpredictable.

  “We have spread the word, and we have photo
s of the girl out on the streets,” the current lackey said, unaware of his close brush with death. Well, perhaps not wholly unaware, considering how much he was sweating, even for a fat pig from Minsk. Archangel’s reputation was well known in certain circles.

  Kill one man, and you are a monster. Kill a few thousand, and you become a legend.

  “What else?” he asked.

  “We are searching for the vigilante, Face-Off. It is not easy. He operates throughout the city, and he can alter his appearance.”

  Anonymity was a powerful defense. Once a target’s location was known, it could be attacked, no matter how well-defended it was. The Mafioso he had killed might have had some idea where this Face-Off was. There was also the matter of retaliation once the Mob found out the fate of their boss. Both points indicated that killing Bufalino had been an error.

  He was reluctantly relieved that Mr. Night was not directly overseeing this part of the operation. The disgusting toad would have made some pointed remarks about Archangel’s mistakes, and it would have been hard to resist the temptation to cut him down to size. Archangel had tried doing just that once before, shortly after making his acquaintance, and the results had been… suboptimal. Best to avoid the temptation to try again.

  He needed more assets. Fortunately, they were due to arrive soon.

  Archangel patiently listened to his lackeys’ reports, which revealed nothing of much value. The interrogation of a handful of Mafiosi had revealed nothing more than what he already knew or suspected – Bufalino had held on to the girl as a bargaining chip, and the faceless vigilante had taken her. If that imbecile had kept to his part of the bargain, the mission would have been accomplished already. Killing him had been the right thing to do, he decided.

  “We have visitors, sir.”

  “Show them in.” The promised reinforcements were here. Archangel watched the newcomers with interest.